The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-06-23

Average per acre, 767 pounds OF fertlllzer; 2,O66
The enormous yield Of 1885 was
thus increased so per cent. in 1886,
the record Of sc l 2 bales on twenty
acres being raised to go bales, Or from
3 IL bales to nearly 5 bales per acre.
These figures cannot be questioned,
nor can their Importance be readily
over-estimated. Every farmer cannot
raise 5 bales of cotton to the acre, nor
even 3l-2 bales, but if any farmer
continues to raise one third of a bale
to the acre, as is about the average,
perhaps, throughout the South, the
fault is plainly in his management, or
lack of management, and not in the
land which he neglects, and then
blames for his own faults and failures.
In the contest which led to the re-
suits we have published, about two
hundred farmers took part, the num-
Der being distributed, it is stated,
throughout the three States of Geor-
gia, Alabama and Carolina. The
average yield obtained by the two
hundred in 1885, was 1872 pounds of
lint to the acre, or more than l IL
bales, The average obtained by the
same number of contestants last year,
was $50 pounds Of lint to the acre, or
considerably over two bales.
1t will be noticed at once that the
total increase from Sc - bales, in
1885, to 90 bales, in 1886, obtained
from twenty acres by the four lead
ing contestants, followed a correspond
ing increase in the total number Of
pounds of fertilizer used. It would
be a mistake to conclude from this
fact, however, that success was deter
mined or measured in any case by the
amount of fertilizer applied. The
largest yield obtained in 1886 from
five acres was obtained by Nj. J. G..
Sims, Hogansville, Ca, who used 400
pounds of fertilizer per acre; and the
smallest yield obtained by any of the
four leading contestants in hat year,
was obtained by Mr.. George w.
Truitt, of LAGRANGE, Ca, who used
1,5l0 pounds per acre. One ton on
five acres gave Mr.. Sims 1887
pounds of lint. The whole cost of
the fertilizer in this case was $50,
and the cotton obtained was worth
1902. Nearly equally good results
were obtained by Messrs. Ray and
Pyson, who used but little more ferti-
lizer. Mr.. Truitt applied nearly four
tons, and did not reach as good a re-
suit by about 1000 pounds.
Another conclusion to be derived
from the record as a whole, is that
the success obtained did not depend
upon locality. Two hundred farms,
scattered throughout three States,
made an average Of two bales to the
acre, on ive-acre patches. This
demonstrates, as the Constitution we'll
says, 'that the average lands through
out the South, taken anywhere and
properly treated, will produce two
bales of cotton to the acre, instead of
one bale to three acres" as is now the
rule, and that enc man has a patent
on the process"
This would seem to be sufficient to
put every farmer in the South to
thinking, and to encourage them to
try new methods in the management
OF their old fields, but there is still
more to be told to the same purpose.
The experiments were not confined to
cotton production alone, and the re-
suits obtained in complaining were
quite as remarkable as those already
narrated. In 1885 a number of
georgia farmers contested for premi-
ums offered for the largest corn crop